Tsk
Tsk, short for tesked, is the Swedish teaspoon and holds exactly 5 ml. It equals 5 krm or a third of a msk, and swaps one for one with a US teaspoon.
Also called Tesked, Teskedar, Swedish teaspoon.
Tsk is short for tesked, which means teaspoon in Swedish. In a Swedish measuring set it holds exactly 5 ml. Swedish recipes use it for baking powder, salt, spices, vanilla sugar and yeast. The plural is teskedar, but recipes write tsk for both. Other Nordic recipes use similar short forms, such as ts in Norwegian and tsk in Danish.
How to do it
- Fill the tsk measure with the ingredient.
- Sweep it level with a knife unless the recipe says rågad (heaping).
- For a half, level the spoon first, then push half out with the knife.
How to use it
The Swedish volume units are exact metric amounts:
| Swedish unit | Exact value | Same as |
|---|---|---|
| 1 krm (kryddmått) | 1 ml | ⅕ tsk |
| 1 tsk (tesked) | 5 ml | 5 krm |
| 1 msk (matsked) | 15 ml | 3 tsk |
| 1 dl (deciliter) | 100 ml | 20 tsk |
A US teaspoon is 4.93 ml and a UK teaspoon is 5 ml, so 1 tsk and 1 teaspoon are the same in any recipe. Use them one for one.
| Tsk | US measure |
|---|---|
| ½ tsk | ½ teaspoon |
| 1 tsk | 1 teaspoon |
| 2 tsk | 2 teaspoons |
| 3 tsk | 1 tablespoon |
Common mistakes
- Reading tsk as msk. Msk (tablespoon) is three times bigger, and the two short forms are easy to mix up at a glance.
- Using an everyday Swedish tesked from the cutlery drawer. Like spoons everywhere, they are not made to measure, and can hold more or less than 5 ml.
- Converting baking powder in tsk to grams with a guess. 1 tsk baking powder weighs about 4 g. If you need to weigh it, use that.
In recipes
You will see "2 tsk bakpulver" (2 teaspoons baking powder), "1 tsk salt", "1 tsk vaniljsocker" (vanilla sugar) and "½ tsk kardemumma" (cardamom). Smaller amounts are given in krm, larger ones in msk.
Related terms
- KrmKrm, short for kryddmått, is the Swedish spice measure and holds exactly 1 ml. Here is how it compares to tsk, msk and US teaspoons.
- MskMsk, short for matsked, is the Swedish tablespoon and holds exactly 15 ml. It equals 3 tsk and is close enough to a US tablespoon to swap directly.
- DeciliterA deciliter (dl) is exactly 100 ml, the main volume unit in Swedish and Nordic recipes. See how it compares to cups and what 1 dl weighs.
- TeaspoonA teaspoon holds 5 ml, and 3 teaspoons make a tablespoon. Here is how to measure one level, and how it compares to tsk and krm in Swedish recipes.
- MilliliterA milliliter (ml) is a thousandth of a liter, the metric unit for measuring liquids. See how ml converts to teaspoons, cups and fluid ounces.
- LevelA level measure is filled to the rim and swept flat with a knife. Unless a recipe says heaping or packed, every spoon and cup should be level.